Trucker brought to Oklahoma to face charges in attack

Tuesday, October 12th 2004, 10:22 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A Nebraska truck driver accused of abducting and assaulting a woman, then dumping her on the side of Interstate 35 has been brought to Oklahoma to face criminal charges.

Oklahoma County sheriff's deputies escorted Carl Wayne Lawson, 32, of Lincoln, from his home state to Oklahoma on Monday.

He faces charges of rape, kidnapping and assault and battery with the intent to kill a 51-year-old Oklahoma City woman. Lawson is also considered a ``person of interest'' in a string of killings of 10 women in six states, Oklahoma authorities say.

The woman was attacked Sept. 12 after being kidnapped from a truck stop in Oklahoma City, court records show.

The woman told police she blacked out after being punched and choked. She awoke on the shoulder of Interstate 35 near the Kansas and Oklahoma state line.

Lawson was identified as a suspect and had been in the Lancaster County jail since his Sept. 14 arrest.

While they have no evidence linking Lawson to the string of homicides in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas or Arkansas, authorities said the case that led to his arrest is very similar.

The victims were last seen at truck stops and were dumped from trucks near highways.

Last week, authorities finalized a DNA profile from Lawson and plan to compare that with DNA recovered from the bodies of the slain women.